SIM card registration: Proxies can register for minors, elderly
Food importscost Nigeria N630bn annually *Jonathan launches N77.5bn agric finance de-risk fund B,ld risA hm~d
& rmaA. Hassan
NIGERIA spends N630 billion to import agricultur.!.l foods annuaUy becauSC' the agricultural ~Ior has bttn pushed 10 thc background, the govemor of Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN). has said. Sanus; Lamido"Sanusi said Ihis res-
Ilmlay in Abuja IYheul'residenl Goodluck Jonathan launched the Nn 5 billion Nigeria incentive-based RiskSharillg System for Agriculture (NIRSAL)
mnnllO de-risk lending to the sector. The CBN d esigned the NlRSAL as a mechanism 10 support farmers to transit from subsistence 10 commercial farming and for U1C' banks to betler understand agricultural financing 35 a profitable husinl'SS. Out of the- N630 billion spends on food importation annuall)'. N 165 billion goes for wheat. N 105 billion on
fish. N75 billion 011 rkc and N60 billion On ~ug;rr. - In the last fivc dCCldes, agricultural rmandng In Nigeria cOl15iduai and Ireated cach projecl in isolation notgilring adequatc attention loother pla}'crs along Ihc valuc chain,· Sanusi said. Vice Pl"f'sidcnl Mohammrd Sambo Namadi represented Ihe President 10 launch the NIRSAL whkh is struc· tured in to five pillars. The first pillar is wha t is called Risk Sharing Facilities whkh is allocated N46.5 billion; Insurance Facility N4.65 bilUon; Technical Assistance Facilit}' N9.3 billion; Agrk Bank Rating Systcm NI.S5 billion; and Bank Incentive t-'Iechanism NIS.5 billion. The Presidenl commended thc GO\'ernor of CRN for th e iniliative, saying it will help In growing the sector.
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NIRSAL is expected 10 generate add itinnal N465 billion n[bank lending within 10 years to increase agricultural lending from the current 1.4 10 7 percent of the lolal bank lending. It is expected to increase lending to the pool of small fanners segment and reach 3.8 million agrkultural producers b},2020. It is also expected 10 reduce banlu' break-even interest rale to borrowe rs from 14 10 7.5 \0 10.5 percent. It has been projected that the Nigerian agrkultural secto r has the potentialto grow ttl current output valued N 15.25 trillion by 160 pe rcent to N39.4 trillion by 20230. -This growth potential could be achieved by increasing both the productivity and Iota I acreage of cultivated land si nce abou t 38 pt'rccnt o(Nigcria's arable land of36.6 million ha is reI to be tapped~ Sanusi said.
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PROXIES can register SIM cards on behalf of their minor or elderly relations who may not be disposed to do so, Ihe Nigcrian Communications Commission (NCC) has said. NCe's Executive Commissioner in charge of stakeholder management, f..lrOkechukwu Ilan); said in a slatement)'nterdaythat such situation is allowrd ",here dependable relations of such persons are available (or registration. Mr. ltan)'i said In a situation wh ere minors or scnio r citi zens who have phones are not able to go and regi ster, prory regislrntion will be allowed and such proxies musl be the trpe who wiU take fulJ responsibility for such registration. M A dependablc relation GIn T<'Kister on be:half of a subscribe:r which means thaI the photograph and biomelricsof such rdation would be: taken in place of the phone owners. wh ich means that persons registering on be:half of any minor or elderly must vouch fo r them since one of Ihe rca50ns for SIt.! registrntion is to curb crimes perpetrated through use of mobile phones': he said. . Mr. itanyi also assured subsc ribers nati onwide thai the information given out by subscribers during the registr:a tion will be lreated with confidence as the facilities being deployed will ensure lhat such inforrn:llion are safe. secured an d kept with utmost confidentiality. Ht urged lhesubscribe:rs toensure that thty regblt r their SIt-is within the period given by the Commission so as to avoid being blocked from using their mobile lines. NCC has fi:ted Seplembtr 28 as the deadline for aU SIMs to be registered in the counlry. lt said any S I ~·I not regi stered after the date would be bloc kl:'d.
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday said that Ihe valu e ofC.1Sh- In- Circulation (CIC) In the country stood at N 13 78trillion asat 3 1st Dccember20 11 ,showingan incTeaSf' of 16 percent. Addressing nev.1imen yesterda),on tlle newcash collection polle)', CBN Deput)' Gow:rnor (Operatio ns). Mr Tunde (.emu said th at the valliI:' ofCurrenc),-ln-Circulation as ~t December, 2009 amounted to N 1.18·\ trillion, an increase of2036 pl'rt:l:'nt O\'ef the level at the end 0(2008. HI' said tllat 90percenl ofbankcus toml'r daily witlldrawals are NI50,OOO ",hereas only 10 percent of bank customers ",ho "ithdraw over N l SO,OOO al"f' respon~ible for the heaV)' C05.1 of cash manageml:'nt being borne by all bankcllslomers. The Vnlr.U Banko(Nigl'ria recl:'ntly lUlnounced a SCI of policy d irecl.h'eS aimed at addressing the currency management challenges in Nigeria and stipul~tes that from June 1, 2012 O\'CT' thc counter cash transadions abo\~ N 150,000 and NI.OOO,OOO for imli\idual and corporlltes respectivel)' will attrad a charge. The Deputy Governor said that in 2009, the direct cost of cash managemenl.to the banking industry was N114.S billion and it is estimated to bellS high as N192 billion by 2012. He s.1.id that the spiraling cash management cost, most o(which is passed on to Iheconsumer in the form of bank i:harges and lending rates, is as;1 result of the cash dominant economy. He said: -The Nigerian economy is too hc:avil), cash-orienled in the transactions of goods and services. 1111" huge mlum e5 of cash transactions impose tremendous costs to the banking.scctor and. consequentlr, thc customer, in tenns of cash management, frrquent printing of currency notes, currencysortingand cash movement5. ··nlis informed the pl"f'ference by thc ban~ to lend 10 the capilal market and oil & gas industry rather than the: rtai .scctor and small and mal.ium scaleenlerprises (SMEs):' He: the CIJN policy will start wi th a "Hal starting in Lagtil' b}' lammey I, 2012, adding that it \,;11 continue lo the remaining indentificd cash-dominantlocalilie:5 with effecl from Jun e 1, 20 12.